The information that is necessary for business and daily life is stored as electronic data in the internal storage device of a personal computer (PC), a server system connected to a network, or in an external memory device connected to a PC, etc. PCs are widely and generally used for accessing this data and processing data.
In recent years, the spread of the Internet has made it possible to access needed data via a network from PCs located anywhere. Therefore, when data becomes needed, a user can connect to a network utilizing a nearby PC and access the needed data. As a result, it commonly occurs that a single user uses two or three PCs: a PC located in the office, a portable PC used when out of the office on a business trip, etc., a PC located in the home, etc. Meanwhile, it is also the case that a PC located in an office or home is shared by a plurality of users.
Also, the need to have access to information at all times has increased, so data is also being copied to information processing terminals such as PDAs and portable telephones and constantly carried around. Storage devices such as USB tokens, media cards, etc. are used as means for simply making data constantly portable.
The unrestricted copying of data to PCs and information processing terminals is directly connected to information leaking. Therefore, terminal access control technology using passwords or biometric information is used as a means for identifying the right of access to data.
One proposal for a PC with this sort of terminal access control technology is a microcomputer with a fingerprint authentication card inserted in a PC slot; it is then used as one's own PC. (For example, see Patent Document 1.) Another proposal is a PDA with a built-in a fingerprint sensor, thus providing individual recognition and security functions. (For example, see Patent Document 2.)
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 272349/1999
Patent Document 2: U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,476